Herb Processor

ABSTRACT

A herb processor has an upper cutting element with blades extending downward, a circumferential groove in an inner diameter of the upper cutting element, and a first opening into the groove from the planar lower end, a lower cutting element with blades extending upward and a laterally-extending key that fits through the opening into the groove, locking the upper and lower cutting elements together.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED DOCUMENTS

This present application is a divisional application of co-pending U.S.application Ser. No. 16/277,500, filed Feb. 15, 2019, now U.S. Pat. No.10,694,894, issuing Jun. 30, 2020, which claims priority to provisionalpatent application 62/778,594 filed Dec. 12, 2018, and all disclosure ofthe parent cases is incorporated herein at least by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention

The present invention is in the technical area of grinding apparatus andmethods for grinding aromatic herbs and pertains more particularly tohand-held and manually operated apparatus.

2. Description of Related Art

There exists a relatively rich body of issued United States patents andpublished patent applications in the technical area of grinding such astobacco and other aromatic herbs. The present applicant has providedwith this patent application an Information Disclosure Statement (IDS)listing a number of US patents and published patent applications thatteach apparatus and methods in the area of the technology of the presentapplication. This list may not be all such applications and patents butmay list most such applications and patents. This specification refersto figures and description of individual ones of these publisheddocuments, all of which may be considered to predate the filing of theinstant application.

Most grinders of the hand-held and manually operated sort have manyfeatures in common, such as opposing rotating elements with blades thatfit together in a way to provide a shredding process, a catching basin,and in many such devices a screen separating finely ground product frommore coarsely ground material. The known prior art provides a variety ofdifferences meant to provide specific functionality, but the presentinventor is of the opinion that much improvement may be made, which is apurpose of the present patent application.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In an embodiment of the invention a herb processor is provided,comprising an upper cutting element with a descending cylindrical bodyhaving an outer and an inner diameter around a central axis and a planarlower end, blades extending downward from an upper base disk in a firstpattern within the inner diameter, a circumferential groove in the innerdiameter of the upper cutting element, and a first opening into thegroove from the planar lower end, and a lower cutting element with anascending cylindrical body having an outer and an inner diameter aroundthe central axis, the outer diameter of the body of the lower cuttingelement smaller than the inner diameter of the body of the upper cuttingelement, the outer diameter having a first laterally-extending key of ashape and size to fit into the opening into the groove from the planarlower end of the upper cutting element, and blades extending upward froma lower base disk in a second pattern. The upper cutting element joinsto the lower cutting element by fitting the outer diameter of thecylindrical body of the lower cutting element into the inner diameter ofthe descending cylindrical body of the upper cutting element, aligningthe laterally-extending key of the lower cutting element with theopening into the groove in the upper cutting element, inserting the keythrough the opening, and rotating the lower cutting element relative tothe upper cutting element with the key in the groove, locking the upperand lower cutting elements together.

In one embodiment the herb processor further comprises a second openinginto the groove in the upper cutting element, opposite the firstopening, and a second laterally extending key on the lower cuttingelement, opposite the first key, the opening and keys positioned suchthat the opening and keys align with the cutting elements engaged. Also,in one embodiment the first opening into the groove is a different sizethan the second opening into the groove, the first key is sized to fitjust the first opening, and the second key is sized to fit just thesecond opening, limiting the engagement of the upper and the lowercutting elements to a single rotational position. In one embodiment thelower cutting element further comprises a plurality of opening throughthe base disk between the upwardly-extending blades and adownward-facing engagement interface at a lower extremity of the lowercutting element, the herb processor further comprising and a collectionchamber having an upward-facing engagement interface engaging thedownward-facing engagement interface of the lower cutting element, suchthat, with the collection chamber in place, herbs processed between theupper and the lower cutting elements pass through the openings in thebase disk into the collection chamber. And in one embodiment the bladesof the upper cutting element are arranged in a first pattern and theblades in the lower cutting element are arranged in a second pattern,the patterns adapted to allow the blades to pass without interferencewith the cutting elements engaged and rotated relative to one another.

In one embodiment of the herb processor the blades of the upper cuttingelement are arranged to have a first contiguous region, having an areaof at least one half of the total area of the upper base disk, in whichblades extend downward from the upper base disk, and a second contiguousregion having an area of less than one half the total area of the upperbase disk, within which there are no blades extending downward from theupper base disk. Also, in one embodiment the blades of the lower cuttingelement are arranged to have a first contiguous region, having an areaof at least one half of the total area of the lower base disk, in whichblades extend upward from the lower base disk, and a second contiguousregion having an area of less than one half the total area of the lowerbase disk, within which there are no blades extending upward from thelower base disk, and wherein the second region without blades in each ofthe upper and lower base disks have a common shape and areal extent,such that with the lower and upper cutting elements engaged with the keyof the lower cutting element engaged in the opening into the groove ofthe upper cutting element, the matching shapes provide a crush-freevolume without teeth. In one embodiment the blades of each of the upperand the lower cutting elements are shaped as flattened, truncatedpyramids extending from the base of the pyramid, each blade positionedalong an arc at a radius of the disk from which it extends, presenting aleading and a trailing cutting edge. And in one embodiment the bladespositioned along the arc vary in height from the base disk to the tip ofthe blade away from the base disk.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a herb grinder in the prior art.

FIG. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the herb grinder of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of an upper grinder element in the prior art.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an upper cutting element in anembodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 5A is a plan view of upper cutting element of FIG. 4.

FIG. 5B is a top plan view of an exemplary blade in an embodiment of theinvention with a serrated cutting edge.

FIG. 5C is a side elevation view of the exemplary blade of FIG. 5B.

FIG. 5D is a plan view of an upper cutting element illustrating adifferent blade orientation in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lower cutting element in an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 7A is a plan view of the lower cutting element of FIG. 7 in anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7B is a plan view of an opening illustrating a grater element in anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7C is a side-elevation section view of the opening of FIG. 7B takenalong section line 7C-7C of FIG. 7B.

FIG. 7D is a plan view of an opening illustrating a slanted passage inan embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 7E is a side elevation view of the opening of FIG. 7D taken alongsection line 7E-7E of FIG. 7D.

FIG. 8A is a section view of the lower cutting element of FIG. 7A takenalong section line 8A-8A in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8B is a plan view of the lower cutting element of FIG. 7 in adirection opposite to the view of FIG. 7.

FIG. 9A is an elevation view of a catching chamber disengaged from otherelements in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9B is a section view of the catching chamber of FIG. 9A taken alongsection line 9B-9B.

FIG. 10A is an elevation view of the lower catching chamber of FIG. 6,disengaged from other elements in an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 10B is a plan view directed into an open end of the lower catchingchamber of FIG. 10A.

FIG. 10C is a section view of the lower catching chamber of FIGS. 10Aand 10B taken along section line 10C-10C of FIG. 10A.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a herb grinder 100 in the prior art,manufactured and marketed by an enterprise on the West Coast. Grinder100 has 4 main parts. An upper grinder element 101 havingdownward-facing teeth (not shown in FIG. 1) engages a lower grinderelement 102 having upward-facing teeth (also not shown in FIG. 1). Lowergrinder element 102 engages a catching chamber 103 with a purpose ofcatching and holding ground or shredded material. In some embodimentscatcher chamber 103 has an internal fine screen (not shown) that allowsvery fine material to pass through into a lower catcher chamber 104,while holding less finely shredded material on the screen.

FIG. 2 is an exploded view of herb grinder 100 showing elements not seenin FIG. 1. Upper grinder element 101 has a body 105 at a larger diameterthan a descending cylindrical ring 106. Teeth 107 extend downward in aspecific pattern from a horizontal top disk. Lower grinder element 102has a body 108 and upwardly-extending teeth 109 from a bottom disk whichhas through-openings 110.

In assembly as seen in FIG. 1, descending cylindrical ring 106, whichhas an outer diameter just slightly less than an inner diameter ofupwardly-extending cylindrical body 108. fits into the inner diameter ofbody 108 up to a lip formed between body 105 and descending cylindricalring 106. When engaged the teeth of upper grinder element 101 fitbetween the teeth of lower grinder element 102, as the teeth arepositioned and spaced in the two elements to accomplish this purpose.Relative rotation between elements 101 and 102 cause relative rotationbetween the sets of teeth to accomplish a grinding effect on materialsmashed between tightly-grouped elements 101 and 102. In some apparatusmagnets may be used to keep the elements in contact and engagement,without preventing the relative rotation necessary to grind materialplaced in the apparatus.

Catcher element 103 has a cylindrical body and is occluded by afine-meshed screen 113 in horizontal aspect, such that material passingthrough openings 110 in the lower disk of lower grinder element 102,having been shredded, will collect in catcher element 103 on the screen,which will allow very fine material to pass through to be caught inlower catcher chamber 104.

Referring again to FIG. 2, lower grinder element 102 has female threadson a lowermost extension, not seen in FIG. 2, which in assembly engagemale threads 112 at an uppermost extension of catcher element 103, suchthat the two may be joined, such that ground material from the volumebetween upper grinder element 101 and lower grinder element 102 may passthrough openings 110 and fall into catcher chamber 103. Lower catcherchamber 104 and catcher chamber 103 join by threads formed on an upperregion of the lower catcher chamber and a lower region of the catcherchamber.

Upper grinder elements constrained to rotate relative to lower grinderelements joined to a catcher container are common to most herb grinderapparatus known in the prior art.

FIG. 3 is a plan view of upper grinder element 101 in an example of theprior art, looking into the open end. Teeth 107 are seen in thedirection of the vertical axis of the teeth. The inside diameter ofdescending cylindrical ring 106 is made with a series of extensions 301spaced evenly around the circumference, which provide a mixing action toshredded material in operation in an assembled grinder. Teeth 107 inthis example are evenly spaced along a circumference at three differentradii with ten teeth at an outer radius marked “2”. There are five teethat a smaller radius marked “4”, and five more at a yet smaller radiusmarked“6”. There are twenty teeth in all in this example.

Three additional radii labeled “1”, “3” and “5” are spaced between theradii of the radii “2”, “4” and “6’. The spacing is such that teethextending from a base disk in lower grinder element 102, when thegrinder elements are engaged, may occupy space along the even-numberedradii, such that relative rotation between the grinder elements willcause teeth in one element to pass close to, and in some cases between,the teeth of the other element. This passage of teeth provides thegrinding or grinder action desired. It may be noted that the shapes ofthe teeth in these examples of the prior art contribute to crushing ofmaterial in loading the material prior to grinding, and further crushingof material is grinding is implemented.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of an upper cutting element 401 in anembodiment of the present invention. This cutting element is analogousto grinder element 101 of FIGS. 1 and 2 in the prior art but differs inseveral unique aspects.

Upper cutting element 401 of FIG. 4 has a body 402 in this embodiment ina cylindrical aspect having an outside diameter D and a height H, with aplanar floor 406 having a central small hole 407. The open end ofcylindrical body 402 has a flat, horizontal surface 403. Acircumferential groove 405 near the open end of the cylinder has twoopposite cut-out regions 404 a and 404 b into the groove. Cut-out 404 ais smaller in area than cut-out 404 b. Circumferential groove 405engages projection keys from the outside diameter of a portion of alower cutting element, as is described in further detail below, enablingthe upper and lower cutting elements to be engaged only in a specificrotational aspect before shredding motion begins. A straight knurlpattern is imposed in two places 412 as an aid for a user to grip thecutting elements in a shredding operation. In this embodiment there arefifteen blades extending from floor 406 into a cavity bounded by theinner wall of the cylinder and the floor. The blades are labeled in FIG.4 as 408 a through 408 f, 409 a through 409 e, and 410 a through 410 c.Individual ones of the blades are shaped as a flattened, truncatedpyramids, as may be seen in FIG. 4, but the blades occupy very specificpositions, are oriented differently in specific cases, and vary inheight in a specific way, as described more fully below.

FIG. 5A is a plan view of upper cutting element 401 of FIG. 4, lookinginto the open end of the element. The outside and inside concentricdiameters of cylindrical body 402 result in a wall thickness, andconcentric groove 405 is shown as a hidden line. All fifteen blades areillustrated extending upward from floor 406, labeled with the sameelement numbers used in FIG. 4.

Blades 408 a through 408 f, arranged in this example in a row across adiameter of the cutting element, are of a common height. Blades 409 athrough 409 e have a common height greater than the common height ofblades 408 a through 408 f. Blades 410 a through 410 c have a commonheight greater than the common height of blades 409 a through 409 e. Thesingle remaining blade 411 is greater in height than any of the otherblades and is therefore the tallest of the fifteen blades in thisexample.

It may be seen in FIG. 5A that blades 408 a, 409 a, 410 a, 411, 410 c,409 e and 408 f are arranged sequentially counterclockwise on anoutermost radius labeled R1. Blades 409 b, 410 b, 409 d and 408 e arearranged sequentially counterclockwise along a smaller radius labeledR2. Finally, blades 408 c, 409 c and 408 d are arranged sequentiallycounterclockwise along a smallest radius labeled R3.

The height dimensions for the blades and the radial placement, takentogether, are seen to provide, along any one of the three radii, thatthe blades followed either clockwise or counterclockwise, from the firstin the sequence in either direction, start with a shortest blade,ascending to a tallest blade, and descending again to a shortest blade.

Further to the above, some of the blades have leading and trailingedges, depending on which way the cutting element may be turned, thatare straight cutting edges. Some of the blades, however, have leadingand trailing edges that are serrated, as a steak knife, for example, maybe serrated. FIG. 5B presents a top view of an example blade 500 with aserrated cutting edge 506. FIG. 5C is a side elevation view of theserrated blade of FIG. 5B. Blade 500 has edges 501, 502, 503 and 504that intersect with the base plane of the lower cutting element in thiscase. Edges 508 and 509 are side vertical edges, and edges 506 and 507are leading or trailing cutting edges, dependent on which way theopposing cutting elements may be turned relative to one another whileengaged.

In FIGS. 5B and 5C only one cutting edge, 506, is shown to be serrated,but the skilled person will understand that in alternative embodimentsboth of the leading/trailing edges may be serrated, and indeed,serration may be only along specific portions of edges.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, the six blades that have serrated leadingand/or trailing edges in this particular example are blades 409 a, 411and 409 e at radius R1, 408 b and 408 e at radius R2, and single blade409 c at radius R3. In alternative embodiments of the invention theserration might be on any grouping of blades, and on either or both ofthe leading or trailing edges. Further, the apparent dimensions ofserrations along edge 5606 in FIG. 5C is exemplary only. The serrationmay have any dimensional parameters that are possible.

FIG. 5D is a plan view of a lower cutting element 401 very similar tothat of FIG. 5A, illustrating some further detail that may be used insome embodiments. In FIG. 5D the dotted circles at the three radii thatdefine blade locations are shown in a lighter line width, so positionsand orientation may be better seen. The blades, such as blades 408 athrough 408 f, for example, are generally seen to be oriented withrespect to the radii, such that a line from tip-to-tip for a blade willbe tangential to the radius of its location. This orientation effectsthe direction of the leading cutting edge of a blade when the lower andupper cutting elements are engaged and rotated together. This is not thecase in every embodiment, however.

Notice is drawn in FIG. 5D to blades 409 a and 409 e. These two bladesare shown to be centered on radius R1, as are the other blades, butblades 409 a and 409 e are rotated about their vertical centers suchthat the leading and trailing edges face in a somewhat differentdirection than for the other blades. Both may be said to be turned“inward” by perhaps ten degrees each. This change causes the cuttingedge in operation to follow a different path than directly behind theblade “in front”, depending upon the relative motion between the twoengaged cutting elements. In other embodiments other treatments may beemployed.

This change is shown in FIG. 5D for just two blades, but in alternativeembodiments every blade, or any number of blades, may be rotated thusly,and in different directions and by different angles, depending uponplans and expectations of a designer of different embodiments of theinvention.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a lower cutting element 601 assembled toa catching chamber 602, which is in turn assembled to a lower catchingchamber 603 in an embodiment of the present invention. These elementsare generally, but not specifically, analogous to the lower cuttingelement 102, catching chamber 103 and lower catching chamber 104 of FIG.3, but have many unique features distinguishing patentably over theconventional art.

In FIG. 6 lower cutting element 601 has an upwardly-extendingcylindrical portion 605 forming an inner volume having a floor 613. Aseries of indentions 606 are formed into the wall of cylindrical portion605 on the inside vertical surface and serve in operation to help stirand blend materials introduced to be shredded, cut with either straight,differing types, or serrated edges of blades.

The outside diameter of cylindrical portion 605 is just slightly lessthan the inside diameter of the upper cutting element 401 of FIG. 4 andFIG. 5, so the upper cutting element may engage the lower by fittingover the outer diameter of cylindrical portion 605 of the lower cuttingelement.

An extending key element 614 a from the outer diameter of cylindricalportion 605 has a counterpart 614 b on the opposite side, not seen inFIG. 6, and these keys serve to limit the rotational orientation of theupper and lower cutting elements in engagement by entering openings 404that show in FIGS. 4 and 5, to engage inner groove 405. In the act ofengaging the upper cutting element to the lower, these keys provide thatthe engagement may only be accomplished at one specific rotationalrelationship, about which more is described below.

Floor 613 of the lower cutting element has a plurality of openings 607,608 and 609, arranged in a specific pattern, described in detail furtherbelow. These openings enable cut and shredded material to pass throughto catching chamber 602. A plurality of blades 610 a through 610 g, and611 a through 611 e in this example extend upward from floor 613, in aspecific pattern described in more detail below. These blades offsetradially from the blades of the upper cutting element, so there is nointerference in operation, and the passing of blades in each cuttingelement serves to cut the material introduced. A star-shaped extension612 projects upwardly from the floor at the center of the lower cuttingelement. The lower catching chamber 603 at the bottom of the assemblyhas a knurl pattern 604 enabling a sure grip by a user.

Openings 607, 608 and 609 in this example are curvalinear, having aconstant width in the curved direction of a radius and a specific lengthalong the radius, and have half-round ends, as shown. This is exemplary,and not limiting in the scope of embodiments of the invention. Openingof many other shapes might be used.

In one embodiment individual ones of openings 607, 608 and 609 may havean additional detail 618 termed a grating element. These are areas atone, or even both ends of an opening. These grater elements aredescribed and defined more fully below.

FIG. 7A is a plan view of lower cutting element 601 enabling clearerdetailed description. In this plan view both keys 614 a and 614 b may beseen on diametrically opposite sides of the outside of cylindrical body605. Key 614 a is longer in arc length than is key 614 b. The keys aresized to fit into the cut-outs 404 a and 404 b of the upper cuttingelement to engage the keys with circumferential groove 405 of uppercutting element 401. Larger key 614 a fits into larger cut-out 404 b,and smaller key 614 b fits into smaller cut-out 404 a. Thusly the upperand lower cutting elements may be initially engaged in one and only onerotational relationship.

Within the internal cavity of lower cutting element 601, bounded by theinner surface of cylinder 605 and floor 613, which has twelve indentions606 equally spaced around the periphery at thirty-degree intervals, asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 6, there are twelve openings 607through floor 613 arranged also at thirty-degree intervals in a ringindicated by a dotted circle labeled 615 that places one each of theopenings just inside each of indentions 606.

At a smaller radius indicated by dotted circle labeled 616 there areeight openings 608 equally spaced at forty-five degrees. At a yetsmaller radius indicated by dotted circle 617 there are four moreopenings 609 spaced at ninety degrees. All of these openings are sizedto enable shredded and cut material to pass through floor 613 intocatching chamber 602. Star-shaped element 612 is seen also in the centeras shown in FIG. 6.

In this example there are seven blades, individual ones in shape of aflattened, truncated pyramid, as described above, extending upward fromfloor 613 and spaced at thirty-degree intervals on a radius between theradii of circle 615 and circle 616. There are further five blades ofsimilar shape and size on a radius between circles 616 and 617, atforty-five-degree intervals. The blades 610 are labeled a through g, andthe blades 611 are labeled a through e. Blades 610 b, d and f haveserrated leading and trailing cutting edges in this example, as wasdescribed above for certain blades in the upper shredding element.Blades 611 a, c and e also have serrated leading and trailing cuttingedges in this example.

Further to the above, as was described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5for upper cutting element 401, not all of the blades of the lowercutting element may be of the same height. Referring again to FIG. 7,blades 610 a and g, and blades 611 a and e, are, in this embodiment, ofthe same size and height, and are the blades of least height in thelower cutting element. Blades 610 b and f, and blades 611 b and d, areof incrementally greater height than blades 610 a and g, and blades 611a and e. Blades 610 c and e, and blade 611 c, are of a heightincrementally greater than that of blades 610 b and f, and blades 611 band d. Blade 610 d is incrementally greater in height than blades 610 cand e, and blade 611 c.

Referring again to FIG. 7A, a greater element 618 is indicated at oneend of each opening 608 through floor 613 arranged along dotted circle616. A similar grater element 618 is indicated one end of each ofopenings 609 on dotted circle 609, but at an opposite end to those ofopenings 608. FIG. 7B is a magnified view of one opening 608 having agrater element 618, and FIG. 7C is a side elevation section view throughopening 608 of FIG. 7B, taken along section line 7C-7C of FIG. 7B.Grater element 618 is seen to be, in this example, a planar regionraised by a dimension “d” above floor 613. Edge 619 is a machined, sharpedge, so raised greater elements 618 may provide a grating effect onmaterial as the cutting elements are rotated relative to one another.

In some embodiments, grater elements may be implemented on both ends ofsome openings, and on one end of some openings, and some openings willnot have grater elements 618.

FIG. 7D and FIG. 7E illustrate yet another detail that may beimplemented in embodiments of the invention. Opening 608 is illustratedin FIGS. 7D and 7E as passing through floor 613 at an angle, rather thanvertically. The side walls of opening 608 in this example are vertical,but the walls at the rounded ends are at an angle to vertical. Thiscreates a scooping action as the upper and lower cutting elements arerotated relative to one another, at least in one direction. Again, thisfeature may be implemented on individual ones of openings in a lowercutting element, and not on all openings.

Referring again to FIGS. 4 and 6 it may be seen that blades extendingfrom the floor of either cutting element are located substantially in asemicircle on one side of the floor of the cutting element, leaving aregion in each that is about one-half of the overall area of the floor,that is empty, that is, having no blades. The order of increasing heightfor the blades in each cutting element follows the position around theradius of each group of blades. The blades next to the clear area,described above as a crush-free zone, are the shortest, the next bladesin either rotary direction are of incrementally greater height, and thenext higher, and so forth.

FIG. 8A is a section view of lower cutting element 601 taken alongsection line 8-8 of FIG. 7, and FIG. 8B is a plan view of the lowercutting element in the direction opposite of the plan view of FIG. 7.The detail of FIG. 8 is into the well 802 beneath floor 613. Referringto FIG. 8A, elements 801 are three inclined engagement elementsimplemented on the inner diameter walls of well 802. These inclinedengagement elements are essentially short portions of threads on threeplaces on the inner wall equally spaced at 120 degrees. Similarengagement elements are implemented on outer diameters of catchingchamber 602, as is described below, and the engagement elements on thelower cutting element and the catching chamber engage and retain the twoparts together.

FIG. 9A is an elevation view of capture chamber 602 disengaged fromother elements of the herb grinder in one embodiment of the invention.FIG. 9B is a section view of the capture chamber taken along sectionline 9B-9B. An important and novel aspect of the catching chamber inthis embodiment of the invention is that capture chamber 601 hasengagement interfaces 901 and 902 having engagement elements 903 inthree places around the periphery of each interface, similar to theengagement elements 801 of lower cutting element 601, that are placedand shaped to engage elements 801 of the lower cutting element. Theshape and placement is such that catching chamber 602 may be assembledto the lower cutting element with either interface 901 or 902. That is,the catching chamber may be engaged in one orientation, and then may bedisengaged and flipped over, and re-engaged. The catching chamber may beassembled with either end up.

In many embodiments catching chamber 601 has a fine-mesh screen (notshown) across the axis of the chamber at the height of shoulder 904. Apurpose of this screen is to allow very fine particles, such as pollen,to pass through to a lower collection chamber described below withreference to FIGS. 10A, B and C.

FIG. 10A is a side elevation view of lower catching chamber 603 of FIG.6, that may be considered a pollen collection chamber. Lower catchingchamber 603 has an engagement interface 1001 in the form of acylindrical body, and a finely knurled region 102 enabling a secure gripfor a user in operation.

FIG. 10B is a plan view into the engagement cylinder 1001 of the lowercatching chamber illustrating a floor 1004 and three engagement elements1003 positioned around an inner diameter wall of body 1001. Engagementelements 1003 are inclined planes similar to engagement elements 903described above with reference to FIGS. 9A and 9B. When catching chamber602 is engaged to the lower cutting element 601 by virtue of engagementof interface 901 and engagement elements 903 with engagement elements801 of the lower cutting element, lower catching chamber may be engagedto the catching chamber by engagement elements 1003 engaging withengagement elements 903 of interface 902. As described above, however,catching chamber 602 may be reversed, so interface 901 is below, and thelower catching chamber may still be engaged to the lower catchingchamber. The reversibility of catching chamber 602 is a unique aspect ofan herb grinder in an embodiment of the present invention.

A Crush-Free Zone

The inventor in the instant case is aware of a problem common to justabout every herb grinder apparatus in the conventional art. Thearrangement of the teeth and the means by which the grinder or cuttingelements engage requires that material to be ground be placed into,typically, the lower grinder element onto the upwardly-extending teeth.Then a user must engage the upper grinder element to the lower grinderelement. The material to be shredded is necessarily, in just about allcases, of a volume more extensive than any space between teeth of thegrinder elements. Therefore, the user must place the material onto theteeth, and smash the material down between the teeth. Then the uppergrinder element is engaged, which further crushes the material beforeany shredding action begins. This crushing is not desirable. A loadingprocess that avoids completely any crushing effect would generallyproduce a superior ground product.

Referring again to FIGS. 4 and 5, it is seen that, in some embodimentsof the invention, in upper cutting element 401 all of the blades are inone semi-circle of floor 406, and the other semicircle has no blades.Similarly, referring to FIGS. 6 and 7 the same is true. All blades arelimited to one half of the floor, in one semi-circle. Further, innergroove 405 with entry openings 404 a and 404 b, having different size,and projections 614 a and 614 b on body 605 of lower cutting element601, ensure that the upper and lower cutting elements can only beinitially engaged with regions without blades of the two cuttingelements facing one another. This unique arrangement enables a user,with the upper cutting element removed, to place material to beprocessed into the lower cutting element in the region without blades.There is no crushing effect in this loading operation. Then, the uppercutting element may be engaged to the lower, but groove 405 and theopenings and the key elements 614 a and 614 b ensure that the blade-freeregion of the upper cutting element will match with the blade-freeregion of the lower cutting element as the two cutting elements areengaged, so there will be no crushing effect in the engagement step aswell.

In some embodiments, to further enhance the crush-free zone, the depthof the upper and lower cutting elements may be increased beyond thedepth of such elements in the conventional art. In the prior art thisdepth is typically on the order of twelve to thirteen mm. In oneembodiment of the instant invention this depth may be as much as 24 mmor greater. In various embodiments that have such additional depth, forthe purpose of avoiding inadvertent crushing of product, the height ofblades may be adjusted as well.

The skilled person will understand that embodiments of the presentinvention described herein are exemplary only, and that there will bemany alterations that may be made within the scope of the invention.Limitations to the invention are set only in the claims below.

1. A herb processor, comprising: an upper cutting element with adescending cylindrical body having an outer and an inner diameter arounda central axis and a planar lower end, blades extending downward from anupper base disk in a first pattern within the inner diameter, acircumferential groove in the inner diameter of the upper cuttingelement, and a first opening into the groove from the planar lower end;and a lower cutting element with an ascending cylindrical body having anouter and an inner diameter around the central axis, the outer diameterof the body of the lower cutting element smaller than the inner diameterof the body of the upper cutting element, the outer diameter having afirst laterally-extending key of a shape and size to fit into theopening into the groove from the planar lower end of the upper cuttingelement, and blades extending upward from a lower base disk in a secondpattern; wherein the upper cutting element joins to the lower cuttingelement by fitting the outer diameter of the cylindrical body of thelower cutting element into the inner diameter of the descendingcylindrical body of the upper cutting element, aligning thelaterally-extending key of the lower cutting element with the openinginto the groove in the upper cutting element, inserting the key throughthe opening, and rotating the lower cutting element relative to theupper cutting element with the key in the groove, locking the upper andlower cutting elements together.
 2. The herb processor of claim 1further comprising a second opening into the groove in the upper cuttingelement, opposite the first opening, and a second laterally extendingkey on the lower cutting element, opposite the first key, the openingand keys positioned such that the opening and keys align with thecutting elements engaged.
 3. The herb processor of claim 2 wherein thefirst opening into the groove is a different size than the secondopening into the groove, the first key is sized to fit just the firstopening, and the second key is sized to fit just the second opening,limiting the engagement of the upper and the lower cutting elements to asingle rotational position.
 4. The herb processer of claim 1 wherein thelower cutting element further comprises a plurality of opening throughthe base disk between the upwardly-extending blades and adownward-facing engagement interface at a lower extremity of the lowercutting element, the herb processor further comprising and a collectionchamber having an upward-facing engagement interface engaging thedownward-facing engagement interface of the lower cutting element, suchthat, with the collection chamber in place, herbs processed between theupper and the lower cutting elements pass through the openings in thebase disk into the collection chamber.
 5. The herb processor of claim 1wherein the blades of the upper cutting element are arranged in a firstpattern and the blades in the lower cutting element are arranged in asecond pattern, the patterns adapted to allow the blades to pass withoutinterference with the cutting elements engaged and rotated relative toone another.
 6. The herb processor of claim 1 wherein the blades of theupper cutting element are arranged to have a first contiguous region,having an area of at least one half of the total area of the upper basedisk, in which blades extend downward from the upper base disk, and asecond contiguous region having an area of less than one half the totalarea of the upper base disk, within which there are no blades extendingdownward from the upper base disk.
 7. The herb processor of claim 6wherein the blades of the lower cutting element are arranged to have afirst contiguous region, having an area of at least one half of thetotal area of the lower base disk, in which blades extend upward fromthe lower base disk, and a second contiguous region having an area ofless than one half the total area of the lower base disk, within whichthere are no blades extending upward from the lower base disk, andwherein the second region without blades in each of the upper and lowerbase disks have a common shape and areal extent, such that with thelower and upper cutting elements engaged with the key of the lowercutting element engaged in the opening into the groove of the uppercutting element, the matching shapes provide a crush-free volume withoutteeth.
 8. The herb processor of claim 1 wherein the blades of each ofthe upper and the lower cutting elements are shaped as flattened,truncated pyramids extending from the base of the pyramid, each bladepositioned along an arc at a radius of the disk from which it extends,presenting a leading and a trailing cutting edge.
 9. The herb processorof claim 8 wherein the blades positioned along the arc vary in heightfrom the base disk to the tip of the blade away from the base disk.